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This exploratory eye-tracking study investigates how the emotional content of food bank advertisements influences food donor perception and visual attention addressing a gap in literature on eye-tracking applications in food donation contexts. Globally, food waste contributes significantly to hunger and malnourishment, straining social support systems like food banks. The economic consequences of food waste equate to futile and avoidable financial losses culminating in a reduction of the overall economic well-being. In our study, 98 participants were recruited from Poland, we utilized an eye-tracker to monitor visual attention to four distinct food bank posters (negative, dissonance, neutral, positive tone). Key eye-tracking metrics including Fixation Count (FC), Time to First Fixation (TFF) and Average Fixation Duration (ADF) were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVAs across defined Areas of Interest (AOIs): logo, picture, and sponsor. Results indicate that participants were most quickly attracted to negative imagery (lowest TFF) supporting the negativity bias. Conversely, dissonance-toned posters elicited the highest FC and ADF on their pictures, suggesting deeper cognitive processing effort. Positive posters also showed high ADF for pictures, indicating strong emotional appeal. Overall, visual attention was primarily drawn to pictures over text or logos particularly in positive and dissonance stimuli. The findings underscore that emotional content significantly impacts visual behaviour towards food bank advertisements. While negative imagery captures initial attention rapidly, positive and dissonance-inducing visuals engage donors for longer durations and require more processing. This study highlights the critical role of visual design in motivating food bank donations, emphasizing the importance of adequate messaging and imagery. Limitations include a non-versatile sample size and a non-experimental design, which restrict causal inferences but establish valuable exploratory insights for future research.